The NHL’s active leading goal scorer is set to hit a major milestone in his career.

At age 32, Ovechkin is absolutely crushing his competition with 593 goals in 980 games. He leads all other active players by a large margin.

The Capitals left wing only needs to score seven more times to hit the big 600. He also has a chance to complete the feat in less than 1,000 NHL games, something that has only been accomplished by three other players in NHL History.

Who are the other players to accomplish this? Brett Hull, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux.

When asked about the possibility of joining these players, Ovechkin responded with: “Yeah, it’s nice to be in the company, Obviously, as long as you take a moment (to think), it’s nice to be in history.”

Ovechkin was drafted 1st overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Over the past 12 NHL Seasons, the Russian superstar has taken the league by storm.

He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie during the 2005-2006 Season after posting a ridiculous stat line of 106 points in 81 games played.

He has also gone on to win the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy, an award that is given annually to the NHL’s leading goal scorer, six times, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player, three times.

Recently, Ovechkin has been hitting many milestones such as 1,100 career points last Thursday in a game against the Minnesota Wild.

In the game, Ovechkin scored one goal and added three assists to lead his team to a 5-2 victory over the Wild.

Sometimes you forget how lethal Ovechkin can be. Over the past two years, he had “down” seasons even though he posted over 69 points in those years. He was also able to reach the 50 goal mark in the 2015-2016 NHL Season.

He is a generational goal scorer. In fact, some believe that he is the greatest goal scorer of all-time. This is due to the era he plays in and the strength of new age goaltenders.

Brooks Orpik, Ovechkin’s teammate, had nothing but praise for the Russian sniper who is about to reach 600 goals.

“Ovechkin reaches milestones so often that it almost seems kind of normal. But then you look back at it and think, ‘Wow.’ ” said the American defenseman.

Even though he is not much of a statistics guy, Ovechkin still appreciates these milestones.

“This year it’s going to be 1,000 games for me and nobody has played 1,000 games in this franchise,” he says. “And I am going to be No. 1. I am very happy and I can’t wait to reach that milestone.”

Coach Barry Trotz also has nothing but respect for the Capitals star.

“He is the greatest goal scorer of his generation. And he’s proving it by putting up numbers that are insane. That’s the best way to say it.” said the man behind the Capitals bench.

While these are all great achievements to be proud of, Ovechkin’s resume still lacks one major prize: The Stanley Cup.

As of right now, the Caps sit at the top of the Metropolitan division with 75 points in 59 games played.

Ovechkin has yet another chance to finally win that Stanley Cup he has been chasing. He’s 32 years old and his window is closing soon.

There is a lot of tough competition in the NHL right now. Teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights are catching the eyes of many NHL fans as Stanley Cup favorites.

However, the Capitals remain a dark horse who can definitely make some noise in the playoffs.

Ovechkin has a solid roster behind him including stars such as Nicklas Backstrom, T.J Oshie, and Brayden Holtby.

Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, and Brett Hull have all helped their teams win the Stanley Cup. It is not fair to rule out the Russian phenom after a few years of disappointing 2nd round exits.

Tonight at 7pm, the Capitals will take on Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning.